Chris Pezman: ‘We want Sampson to finish career’ at UH

Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson watches practice for an NCAA college basketball first round game Wednesday, March 14, 2018, in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson watches practice for an NCAA college basketball first round game Wednesday, March 14, 2018, in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Photo: Charlie Riedel, STF

Photo: Charlie Riedel, STF

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Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson watches practice for an NCAA college basketball first round game Wednesday, March 14, 2018, in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson watches practice for an NCAA college basketball first round game Wednesday, March 14, 2018, in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Photo: Charlie Riedel, STF

Chris Pezman: ‘We want Sampson to finish career’ at UH

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The University of Houston wants to be the final stop in Kelvin Sampson’s coaching career.

“We want Kelvin to finish his career at the University of Houston,” Chris Pezman, the school’s athletic director and vice president of intercollegiate athletics, said Monday.

The Cougars are coming off their best season in decades, winning 27 games and advancing past the opening round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the Phi Slama Jama days in 1984.

Sampson has led a four-year turnaround that includes a pair N.I.T. appearances and the first NCAA trip since 2010. The Cougars knocked off San Diego State in the opening round before falling short of a trip to the Sweet 16 on a buzzer-beater to Michigan.

In May, Sampson, 62, acknowledged he was a candidate for the Orlando Magic job. Sampson has three years remaining on his current contract that runs through 2020-21 season.

“I’m really proud of what we are building at the University of Houston and hope I spend the rest of my career here,” Sampson said.